The Succubus Within
by wheeloffire
Summary: Light short. Slight AU. The author owns nothing.


"Who is _that_?" Bo breathed, as her eyes followed the slender blonde making her way through the press of drinkers.

Her neighbor followed her eyes. "Oh, that's Lauren. Dr Lewis rather. She's the Ash's human doctor." He turned his attention back to his companions.

Bo's gaze didn't waver. An extraordinary thing was happening. Something inside her chest felt like it was unfurling. A feeling of purring interest permeated her being. Then eerily, she felt something very like a silent chuckle.

Somewhat afraid, she made her way quickly away. When she got to a quiet little alleyway, she stopped. Whatever this was, it had to be faced. Better to try it here, where there was no one around to witness or be hurt.

" _Hello?_ " she called silently.

Nothing.

" _Who are you? WHAT are you?"_

 _I am you._

What the hell? Bo was less afraid now and more annoyed. Cryptic answers. Yet again.

" _No, you're not. I am me. I am talking to you. So you are NOT me._ "

 _I am in you. There is no other. So we are one. We will be more one._

What on earth could that mean? Bo was about to ask but stopped herself. It was becoming obvious that this thing was not one for complex sentences. Well, then …

" _When? How?_ "

 _Later. We will know._

Oh, THAT was helpful. Bo gritted her teeth.

" _Where did you come from?_ "

 _I have always been here._

" _You have not made yourself known before. Why now?"_

Unbidden an image of the blonde floated across her mind.

 _Pretty. Want._

" _Well, at least we agree on something. But I do not wish you to hurt her._ "

A feeling of indignant affront.

" _Why have you woken for her?_ "

 _Want._

" _She is human. Easily hurt._ "

Nothing for a while. Then, _Tender. Care._

Bo smiled. " _All right. We can agree on that too. But I need to know more about you. I do not wish to hurt anyone. I do not wish you to hurt anyone."_

 _Must protect. Survive. Defeat foe. Fight. Feed._

Bo blinked several times. " _Are you…. succubus essence?"_

A pause, then a feeling of affirmation.

" _We will be more one? Explain."_

 _More together._

The sense of this presence faded. Bo knew there would be no more talking to it for now.

She finagled an introduction to Dr Lewis by simply agreeing to work whatever cases Dyson asked her to help with, after she heard him mentioning the doctor in connection with the autopsy of a murder victim. When a case they worked on together finally brought them to the Light lab, Bo was all anticipation. She could feel the presence she now called her succubus stirring.

The moment Lauren turned to greet them, it came to full alert and the purring sensation started.

When they shook hands, a cooing sensation was added to the purring. Bo was beginning to realise her succubus had something of a crush on the doctor. She would have been amused if it hadn't been an inseparable part of her. Besides, since she had been captivated by the doctor's looks from the start, before her succubus awoke, she didn't really have any high ground from which to laugh at her succubus.

Close up, Lauren was stunning. It was all Bo could do to keep thinking and speaking sensibly and not stare too offensively. As the conversation progressed, Lauren revealed herself to be kind, warm, gentle and compassionate and astoundingly good at her job. Bo could feel her cheeks warming and knew she was blushing whenever the doctor directed those incredible chestnut eyes at her. Hadn't her succubus said they were one? They were obviously certainly at one about crushing on the doctor.

When Bo caught herself chewing gently on her lower lip as she watched the doctor's long sure fingers at work, and realized she was fantasizing while on the job and fully awake, she knew she was in trouble.

As she left the lab and the doctor, she felt her succubus settling with disgruntled grumbling.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom.

" _What's the matter with you?_ "

Lauren's face emerged in her mind with the petulant word, _Gone_.

" _Yes well, not forever. This is life, buddy. We can't hang about her neck forever. Do you want her to think I am a crazy person?_ "

Her succubus sulkily withdrew; Bo was able to leave the bathroom.

A couple of weeks later, Lauren proved to be delightfully entertaining after three tequilas and hilarious after six. Bo drove home with her cheeks aching from smiling so much all evening.

When she got into bed and all was quiet she realized her succubus was still crooning happily inside her.

" _Hey you, stop that for a minute. I want to ask you something. How come you don't wake up unless Lauren is around?"_

 _Others mean nothing._

" _Now listen. Does Lauren strike you as someone who would like you to be contemptuous of everyone else?"_

No answer.

" _Doesn't she value all life?"_

Obstinacy. _Choices must be made. Mate is more important than all._

Bo's hackles rose.

" _Now see here, you. You will stop this "mate" business. Lauren is not an animal. You will respect her. You will not degrade her by referring to her as if she were just for rutting with or obsessing over. I am in this too. All of me. Not just you. Not just my body. All of me. Understood?"_

Sullen.

" _If you make me treat her like I want her only for sex, she will not be with me. We will not be able to smell her scent, or touch her skin or know her taste or hear her voice or bear her weight. Is that what you want? What happened to tender care?"_

Long pause. Then acquiescence, but still doubt. _She is [Tender] [Care] to us. There must be a word if not mate._

" _We'll see. For now, [Tender] [Care] is good. Anything but mate. Remember Dyson?"_

Fullhearted acquiescence. _Not mate then. [Tender][Care]….. Protect._

" _If necessary. But Lauren is also clever and informed and resourceful."_

 _Easily hurt. Human._

" _Even so. What is precious is also easily lost. That is why it is precious. You will not make me stifle her. She will dislike me for it."_

Worry.

" _Stop that. I am trying to win her over. Don't make it harder for me. If she ever consents to have a relationship with me, it will not be reduced to a primitive animalistic one. She would not stay. And I cannot be always fighting you about this."_

Thoughtfulness. _Soon we will be more one._

" _Explain!"_

 _Soon …_ the succubus presence faded but left the faint suggestion of continuing crooning behind.

The next day Bo went to consult Trick. Which was how she learned about the Dawning.

She settled into bed that night with a determined air.

" _Hello. We need to talk. About the Dawning."_

 _Speak._

" _Is that when we become more one?"_

 _Yes. We did not know the word before._

" _You know it is possible to fail the Dawning."_

 _Yes. We will not fail._

" _How do you know?"_

Smugness. _Powerful, intelligent._

" _Do you know what we will face in the Dawning?"_

 _No._

" _Then how can you be sure we will pass?"_

Lauren's image. _For [Tender] [Care]. We must so we shall._

Bo felt like groaning with frustration. She breathed through the urge.

" _Explain more one, more together."_

 _Not like this._

Huh?

" _Huh?_ "

 _Now we are not so together as we will be._

" _After the Dawning, we will not speak like this?"_

 _After the Dawning there will be no need._

Bo lay back. Trick had said something like this. She wouldn't miss these irritating conversations, would she? Her succubus seemed to have the straightforward unrefined emotions of a puppy, but she also seemed to know things Bo did not and Bo could sense her power. Once she actually knew what this presence was, it had ceased to be really frightening but her sense of that power was why she had been persuading it to do things her way rather than fighting it. Perhaps passing the Dawning meant the succubus would not even need to be persuaded. They would not be at odds.

But would she be lonelier without that other voice, annoying though it could be?

Several weeks passed before the next meaningful exchange.

It was late, past 1am. Bo was watching Lauren sleep, admiring the long lines of her shape under the sheet, her nose happily indulging in the melange of sweat and love and Lauren-scent. Her succubus nudged at her.

Proud. Smug. Gratified. Joy.

Bo took a deep breath.

" _What was that earlier? When we were with the Lich? That was you, wasn't it?_ "

 _Fought. Protected. Necessary. Not contemptuous. Angry. ….. afraid._

" _I accept that. And thank you. But when you did that, I disappeared. That made me scared."_

 _Protect._

" _Yes, I know. But if I don't know what's happening then you don't have my input. You might need it to protect us and Lauren properly."_

Outrage.

" _Calm down and listen to me! The obvious solution to take everyone's chi until they die could be dangerous. What if you kill someone who might be needed to save my life or Lauren's life later?"_

Pause.

Longer pause.

" _You see? I need to be present even when you act."_

 _Do not know how._

" _After the Dawning?"_

 _Perhaps. Yes._

" _Look, how did you do it? Feed like that from everyone from so far?"_

 _Just can._

Bo wanted to roll her eyes.

" _Don't you see? It would make Lauren happy if I could feed like that all the time, but in a controlled way, without killing anyone. And it's safer for me."_

Enlightenment. _Lauren happy …. Good._

Bo knew she had to be patient but honestly, sometimes …

" _Hey, stop dreaming about it. Make it happen instead. Can you?"_

 _After the Dawning. Perhaps._

And Bo had to be content with that.

…..

"Bo?" Lauren was smiling at her. Bo stopped nuzzling at Lauren's wrist to stare cloudily at her. "I'm glad you're here. I was afraid you'd be different after the Dawning."

Bo wriggled closer, nose in Lauren's neck, breathing happily. "Not in any way that's important."

Lauren rubbed her chin gently up and down along Bo's temple. "Just remember to take care of yourself. You still have to feed."

"Not like before. Remember the Lich? I can do that now. At will. With control. You saw that when I had to save Dyson. I only took chi from fae and I stopped. They were all fine, just tired. I can feed like that." Bo had a mission and she was leading up to it.

Lauren went still. "Yes, I remember. I don't know if you can heal like that … although …"

Bo raised her head to look at her hopefully.

Lauren continued her train of thought. "I've recently theorized that sex causes the chi you take in to circulate faster, which is why you heal so fast when you have it. And why feeding that way energizes you so quickly. The chi goes to injuries first. Any chi left over after healing circulates to energize your muscles and organs. But we still have to prove the theory."

"So …." Bo was antsy with excitement, "we test it by …"

"Two ways. You ingest chi and avoid sex afterwards and see how that feeds your hunger or heals injuries. Then you ingest chi and follow that more or less immediately with sex and see if that changes anything. The second way is to have sex without taking in chi for a while. If I'm right, you should get hungry fast because the sex will circulate the chi you have so it gets expended faster during your normal activities and the exertion of sex. Then .." she hesitated and gave a small sly smile, "after you feed you see how long it take to get hungry again without sex."

She giggled at Bo's predictable dismay. "If the theory is right, the chi source does not have to be the source of sex. You can get chi from any one or more fae regularly and safely . Even if you are seriously injured you'll start healing right away. Then you can come home to me and we …" a kiss on Bo's nose, "will work …," a kiss on each delicate eyelid, "on circulating it." A tiny suggestive lick between fine dark brows which made Bo draw in a quick breath. A confident hand went sliding in between them and Bo's breath came faster.

But Bo was still on her mission. "So Lauren….oohh, wait a sec …"

Lauren waited.

"… uhhh, can we be an us? I mean, not just when we're alone. Can we be an us all the time?"

Lauren surveyed the effect of her preliminary affections with apparent satisfaction and leaned in, a breath away from Bo's lips. "I thought we already were."

Bo was sure now. She was definitely not lonely after the Dawning.


End file.
